Solar code proposed for firefighters’ safety

Andrew Koyaanisqatsi, president of Solar Energy Solutions, says a two-foot setback to allow firefighters roof access during a fire is too much space to lose for the residential solar industry. Oregon could be the first state in the US to implement a statewide code for solar installations. (Photo by Dan Carter/DJC)

A roof isn’t a safe place for anyone. But one covered by a photovoltaic solar system can be especially unsafe for firefighters due to the risk of electrocution, according to Matt Paiss, fire captain with the San Jose Fire Department.

That’s why an Oregon Building Codes Division committee tasked with creating the nation’s first statewide code for solar installations is considering the requirement of a 2-foot pathway from the edge of the solar array to allow firefighters space to perform their duties.

But according to Andrew Koyaanisqatsi, president of Solar Energy Solutions, Oregon’s residential solar industry can’t spare an inch, much less 2 feet, because installers already are at their limits to fit large solar systems on small residential roofs.

“A 2-foot setback would be catastrophic to residential solar,” Koyaanisqatsi said. “One hundred percent of my installations would not be code compliant under this rule.”

The setback rule was inspired by solar photovoltaic installation guidelines created by California’s Department of Forestry and Fire Protection in 2008. Paiss, who worked on the task force that created the guidelines, said the reason for the setback rule is twofold: firefighters need open spaces on the roof where they can cut holes to let smoke and hot gases out of the building, and maneuvering around the modules in daylight hours can be dangerous since solar modules remain electrified even if they are shut off.

“The more modules you have wired together, the more the voltage will increase,” Paiss said. “And there’s no way for those to be shut down on a modular level. We need the (solar manufacturing) industry to develop a system where the modules can isolate themselves individually.”

Firefighters are trained how to identify whether a roof has a photovoltaic system and to use large, dark mats to cover rooftop panels to avoid electric shock. YouTube offers several training videos created by Paiss that show how firefighters can stay safe around photovoltaic panels.

But documented U.S. cases of firefighters being electrocuted by photovoltaic systems while fighting fires are few and far between, according to Paiss, who has never had it happen in his jurisdiction. Lt. Allen Oswalt of the Portland Fire Bureau said despite his city having an excess of homes with photovoltaic systems, he is not aware of any incidents within his bureau where electrocution by photovoltaics has been an issue.

“If it’s the safety of firefighters that is the concern, we would have to ban metal roofs,” Koyaanisqatsi said. “If it’s ventilation cutting that’s the concern, we’d have to ban tile and slate roofs. It’s all unsafe when you’re up on a roof. It’s not right that solar is being singled out.”

Koyaanisqatsi said that because photovoltaics take up a huge area of roof space but produce only a fraction of a typical home’s energy production, solar installers need every inch to make the system economically viable for their clients. In addition, most roofs are already limited space-wise due to orientation, shading and building structures such as gables and chimneys.

“My brother is a firefighter and I want him to be safe,” said Keith Knowles, president of LiveLight Energy. “But there needs to be a balance of renewable energy business needs versus what is really necessary for a firefighter to fight a fire.”

According to a document presented to the solar codes committee by David McClelland, solar program coordinator at the Energy Trust of Oregon, a system installed on a home with a 30-foot-by-17-foot south-facing roof could support a maximum 5.5-kilowatt photovoltaic system, which would produce 6000 kilowatt-hours per year. If a 2-foot setback were required on that same roof, a maximum 3.7-kilowatt photovoltaic system could be installed that would produce 4,000 kwhs per year, a 33-percent reduction in output.

“Any changes to setbacks will have an impact on the (solar) industry,” said Susan Jowaiszas, Energy Trust’s marketing manager. “The impact on residential will be substantial based on the outcome of this code.”

In communities in California that have adopted the solar installation guidelines, which recommend a 3-foot setback for residences, Paiss said solar installers have reported a 30- to 40-percent decrease in interest in installing rooftop photovoltaics. Though he does not support a 3-foot setback, Paiss does believe that a shorter setback should be required until solar manufacturers can create smaller systems or systems that don’t pose as great a risk of electrocution.

“Codes drive technology,” Paiss said. “I understand the concerns of the solar industry, but it’s not our job to respond to their concerns. It’s their job to respond to safety codes.”

Paiss said he is concerned more about the high voltage of photovoltaic systems than about setbacks. Last year in Germany, the world’s largest roof-mounted solar-panel array in Burstadt was destroyed after a fire broke out. The fire appeared to have started on the array and spread to the frame it was mounted on.

“I don’t want (the solar industry) to get a black eye because of a situation where a PV system starts a fire,” Paiss said. “The fire in Germany got very political. This is as much an issue of high voltage as an issue of pathways.”

But until a novel solution is discovered, a code will be written. And if that code contains a 2-foot setback, Koyaanisqatsi worries that other states will follow Oregon’s lead, killing residential solar projects around the country in the process.

“This code has nationwide implications,” Koyaanisqatsi said. “I don’t know why people are being consolatory and passive about this issue. Other states are looking to Oregon, and they will base their codes on ours.”

The Building Codes Division committee’s work is ongoing, and no date has been set for when it will finalize a draft of the code. The final draft would be subject to a public hearing.

10 comments

This sounds like so much more B.S. Being distributed by people that haven’t got the first idea about what their talking about. p.v. panels do not generate those kind of High Voltages. High current, maybe. As long as the installation is out of Matalic materials and professionally installed, its very unlikely that there is any thing to worry about. In the worst case just short it out. Its a solid state device. it will instantly self destruct.

With all due respect to Mr. Savoie, the new breed of on-grid PV systems are actually at high voltage and low current, to directly power grid-synchronous inverters and reduce wire transmission losses. Our typical installation is at 300+ Volts DC at 20-30 amps. Putting a chainsaw blade through that wire is gonna hurt!

Secondly, solar panels are unique in that shorting them out produces no ill effects; they will not self-destruct but will operate at maximum output – in fact, the standard test for PV panels measures the V Max and I Max under the condition of a short circuit.

I usually leave space around my installs just to give us working room – the picture shown at the top of the article shows there might have been plenty of room to slide that array back a foot. It’s usually easy enough to cantilever another row of panels over the peak.

Never really thought about firefighter safety before, so I might just start prominently marking the single wire they need to disconnect to disable the array.

A simple heat-activated fuse within the panels would provide a simple solution for the electrical safety issue. Pursuing this as a UL requirement would make sense.

Erring on the far side of safety has never been a bad idea in the electrical industry, and we in the solar industry must keep in mind that ultimately, we sell electricity.

With all due respect to Mr. Savoie, the new breed of on-grid PV systems are actually at high voltage and low current, to directly power grid-synchronous inverters and reduce wire transmission losses. Our typical installation is at 300+ Volts DC at 20-30 amps. Putting a chainsaw blade through that wire is gonna hurt!

Secondly, solar panels are unique in that shorting them out produces no ill effects; they will not self-destruct but will operate at maximum output – in fact, the standard test for PV panels measures the V Max and I Max under the condition of a short circuit.

I usually leave space around my installs just to give us working room – the picture shown at the top of the article shows there might have been plenty of room to slide that array back a foot. It’s usually easy enough to cantilever another row of panels over the peak.

Never really thought about firefighter safety before, so I might just start prominently marking the single wire they need to disconnect to disable the array.

A simple heat-activated fuse within the panels would provide a solution for the electrical safety issue. Pursuing this as a UL requirement would make sense.

Erring on the far side of safety has never been a bad idea in the electrical industry, and we in the solar industry must keep in mind that ultimately, we sell electricity.

With all due respect to Mr Baldwin the system he is looking at cannot as he suggested “slide that array back a foot” The reason it was installed near the edge was because the system would have been shaded by trees. It happens to be my house. Also the proposed state code would prohibit the arrays from being installed over the peak as Mr Baldwin suggested. This is precisely why the proposed code is too restrictive. We would have had to cut the number of solar panels on our roof in half which would have essentially made it cost prohibitive to install. This bill would discriminate against those of us with smaller houses (smaller south facing roof). And the wealthy folks with big houses would stll be able to fit a solar array on their roof.
Firefighters already know how to approach houses with these solar systems. Sure, innovations such as those proposed by Mr Baldwin will come along as a result of the California code. But other states should wait for those safety improvements before destroying an industry in the interim. If these solar systems were such a fire hazard the home insurance would increase. Our homeowners insurance did not increase. In fact the replacement cost of the solar panels are included in our insurance policy.

If the firefighters need to cut a hole in the roof, why don’t they do it on the roof opposite the array? How can they single out asphalt roofs and not mention metal or tile roofs? Is this new code really coming from the firefighters? With whom did this idea originate? Sounds like another way to destroy a new industry with so much promise in the USA.

Once again we give the right wingers (neo con, pro oligarchy) more ammunition for shooting at that “evil government regulation”. The primary problem as I see it is there appears to be few if any individuals working at writing rules with even a hint of critical thinking skills. I had meetings with the LA Fire Chief who could come up with an endless list of mindless and thoughtless restrictions on solar PV that when looked at with even a tiny bit of logic and common sense vaporized. Just as emergency rescue personnel threw a “hissy fit” over the deadly Toyota Prius high voltage battery killing some rescuer (maybe a 5 million to 1 chance) we now have the same knee jerk,non thoughtful nay sayers making a big deal of PV’s killing someone. Has anyone ever given even a little thought to the fact that with a fire axe you can go through a PV module in seconds and have all the access you want to the roof. I have yet to see a PV module electrocute someone when it is smashed to pieces. Hopefully true critical thinking skills can be applied to this so called problem before we kill another American industry.

Solar power is a vital part of Oregon’s economic future. With Solar World, Sanyo and Solaicx and numerous supporting companies, Oregon stands to become a major supplier of expertise and high-value equipment. The thought that we (Oregonians) would choose to restrict the deployment of these technologies based on speculative fears, back-stabs the millions of tax payer dollars we have invested in this new future.

First, consider that in Germany more than 70% of the solar market (the worlds largest) is installed on small homes and businesses. They have 18 years of experience, with no setback restrictions and no firefighter deaths that are a result of blocked access and consequential electrocution. If they can do it why can’t we.

Secondly, there are technology solutions that are emerging that allow power to be disconnected at the module level. I know of five such companies, two of which are developing products in OREGON!

Third, the greatest strength of solar power is its distributed nature – being able to place it where the energy is needed and for it to produce power when loads are highest (daytime). To eliminate the highest value locations – namely the ridge-line of our homes is the energy equivalent of cutting off our nose.

True enough, no PV-related fatalities were recorded, yet. However, several dangerous incidents did occur and are likely to occur in the future as the number of installations increases and as old PV installations age and start to deteriorate. Keep in mind that as long as PV panels are exposed to sunlight, they produce an electrical voltage, even when grid power is disconnected.

There is actually a working group called PV SAFETY, initiated by Photon Magazine and composed of representatives of research and industry leaders such as SMA, SolarEdge, Kaco and Danfoss. The aim of the working group is to advance work to find and implement an immediate solution to the PV safety problem, without limiting the industry. An article summarizing the activity of the group was published on Photon’s December issue.

The gold standard of PV safety, according to Photon magazine consists of systems that use smart module-embedded electronics to short-circuit each individual module once the inverter has been deactivated. In the event of a fire, the fire department routinely cuts the electricity connection to the building. This would automatically deactivate the inverter, which will cause the module embedded electronics to shut off each and every module, and the DC cables connected will become volt-free.

As Mr. Dymond noted, systems like these are already available in the market. Power Optimizers and micro-inverters, which manage energy production at module level, provide the active electronics required to shut off each and every module in case of a fire, making the new code unnecessary.